3-052-422 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The War in Afghanistan: reconnoitring, 1880. 'There is no fresh news, to the hour of this writing, of the military and political situation in Afghanistan. It is still believed that a renewed attack on the position of General Sir F. Roberts at Cabul is being prepared by the direction of Mohamed Jan, who has been joined at Ghuzni by the late Afghan Governor of Jellalabad...The British Generals stand ready either at Candahar or Cabul to act as occasion may require. They are being strongly reinforced from India. Already the Third Division of the Cabul Field Force has been mobilised, and two of its brigades have entered the Khyber Pass...In the south a Reserve Division is likewise being organised for the support of Candahar...The news from the lower Ghilzai country is not very encouraging. It is evident that the influence of Mahomed Jan has been felt even in this district, and that the chiefs were ready to obey his call to arms. Our Illustration [is] sketch of a reconnoitring party in one of the rocky defiles of that mountainous tract of country, between the plain of Jellalabad and the Cabul valley, through which access is gained by the Jugdulluk Pass or the Khoord Cabul, or by the newly-opened route of Latabund'. From "Illustrated London News", 1880.